Grimm-Born
by newwriter2016
Summary: Faunus are people with animal traits. Grimm are creatures of darkness and hate. What happens when you get a person who is both? What happens when this person is someone we know? Follow this alternate series of events around a character who is just a little different. Not really AU, but kind of AU. I do not own RWBY, just my thoughts and ideas. Rated T just in case. Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

**Forward: Hey guys, thanks for checking out my new story. If you read the description, you know what its about. I have no idea if I had this idea first, it just came to me in the shower (seriously, it is the best place to think) so if someone else had something similar first, I'm sorry. This is my story, and I hope you enjoy! -newwriter2016**

"It'll be fiiiine," Nora Valkyrie said, tugging on her best-est friends arm. Lie Ren, better known as just Ren, was lollygagging behind the exuberant, orange-haired girl. It might have had something to do with the fact that he was carrying both of their stuff, but _surely_ that wouldn't slow him down too much.

"You know," the quite ninja – is that redundant – said. "You could carry your own stuff."

"Yeah, but you're just such a nice guy Renny," she smirked at him, skipping towards the school. They passed a white haired girl yelling at a shorter brunette who had dyed the tips of her hair red. "I don't know what you're so worried about."

"Yes you do Nora," Ren grimaced. Painful memories began to surface in Ren's mind, before he shook his head. _You're a monster, a demon, a murderer._

"Ren?" He looked up into the hammerers' concerned face.

"I'm fine, in control," he said, adjusting the pair's stuff on his back. He sighed at her worried face. "Come on, we don't want to be late." The pair of them continued walking toward the school. Eventually, they found themselves in the main hall of the school. The brunette was being yelled at by the white haired girl – Ren couldn't tell if it was still or again – while trying to cower behind a blonde with a massive…

…head of hair. (A/N what did you think I was going to say ;) ) Ren watched the exchange with amusement. Some blonde guy had walked up to the group and had tried hitting on the white haired girl – he was going to have to learn names at some point – before being shut down. Suddenly, he felt a tugging on his arm.

"Ren!" Nora whined. "I want pancakes!"

Ren sighed, "I can't make any until we get settled into the dorms." Nora tried to whine/plead/beg, but he quickly shushed her. Nora's temper tantrums were the stuff of legends, or nightmares. Depends on your point of view. "I'll make you some for dinner once we are settled into our dorm with our team, or teams?"

"Teams?" Nora asked, suddenly worried.

"I don't know how they decide the teams, so it isn't safe to assume we'll just be put on the same team." He replied. The headmaster, Ozpin, had walked up to the microphone. He began giving a speech about them and their education. It was pretty standard stuff – Ren briefly wondered if all teachers had a list of speeches/lectures that they shared or something – but the man held the audience's attention with his perfect delivery. When he was done, a woman stepped up from behind him and began listing off instructions. Apparently, they were going to be sleeping on the floor in the ballroom. Slowly, students began drifting towards the ballroom, and Ren and Nora joined the crowd.

"Hey Reeen," Nora asked, grabbing his sleeve. "Is that the girl from the cereal box?" He turned to see her pointing into the crowd, but Ren couldn't see anyone resembling the champion of Mistral, Pyrrha Nikos.

"Where?" He asked, scanning the crowds.

"I lost her," pouted Nora, slumping her shoulders. She suddenly perked up. "I'll find her, and trap her, and get her autograph – maybe a selfie – and then you can make pancakes, then-"

Ren interrupted, "Are you sure you even saw her, and not just someone who looked like her?" Nora paused for a moment.

"Well, you could still do the last part," she offered.

"Nora," Ren chuckled. All of a sudden, a headache began throbbing behind Ren's eyes. He knew this pain, what it meant. Deftly, he grabbed Nora and worked his way to the side of the hall, dragging her behind him. When they had left the main flow of traffic, he whispered to her. "Take our stuff, find a quiet corner in the ballroom, and set it up there, please?" By the end of the sentence, he was almost begging her.

Nora's face dropped dead serious for a moment. She nodded and took their bags from the ninja before leaving. Ren waited there on the side until the group had passed. When the hall was empty, he sprinted out into the courtyard. He sat down on the edge of the fountain and, with trembling hands, drew out a bottle of medication. He unscrewed the top with one hand – a skill he had gotten from the innumerable times he'd done it – and poured out a single, midnight black pill. He tossed it up into his mouth before dry-swallowing the pill. He squeezed his eyes shut, bracing himself for the pain.

A fire swept through his body, and despite himself, he gave a quiet growl from between his clenched teeth. But as quickly as the pain had come, it vanished. Panting for a few moments, he regained his composure. He was a lotus, fragile and delicate, neutral and calm. _You killed them all, Lie Ren. You did that._ Ren shook his head hard, trying to make the voice go away. Eventually, it did.

"A most dangerous Semblance, Mr. Ren," a smooth voice came from near him. Ren's head snapped up in a near panic, his eyes flying open to find the speaker. His eyes settled on the form of Professor Ozpin. The slim teacher was standing there holding a coffee cup – was that thing attached to him? – and gazing at the boy through spectacles.

"It's not my semblance," the boy panted out, forcibly calming himself.

"Ah, my mistake," the teacher said, sitting down on the bench next to him. Ren scooted away on pure reflex, but the teacher simply gave a small smile. "I am not here to hurt you Mr. Ren, so please calm yourself." Ren most certainly did not calm down. "I was briefed on your…condition?" Ren nodded to this. The term was close enough to be considered accurate. "by your last teacher. You are in no way in trouble, but I wanted to talk to you before we began the school year."

"I understand sir," was all the student said in reply.

"First, I'd like to ask you a few questions, is that all right?" The teacher asked. Ren nodded, but didn't say a word. "Very well. First, you do not have complete control over your powers, is that correct?" Nod. "And your medication, it helps you to control it?" another Nod. "Are you still able to perform the tasks and challenges that you will face in this school. And before you just nod, think about it. This is an academy that will transform young children into capable hunters. It will be difficult. It will be stressful. It is my duty to ensure not only the security of the students here, but also to help them succeed. I don't want you to fail out because of the rigors coping with your…condition entails."

"I understand your concern," Ren began. "But I assure you, I can perform up to standards."

A few silent moments hung in the air as the slim headmaster gazed into the eyes of the equally slim student. Finally, the man spoke, "I believe you. Last question, but it has three parts. Does anyone else know about you? If so, who are they? And Finally, do you plan on telling your team?"

"Nora Valkyrie knows, my doctor, my old teacher, and you know, but that is all on remnant," Ren immediately answered. His head cocked to the side as he pondered the last part of the question. "I…don't want to commit to answer yet on that last part, if that is alright with you sir. I don't even know who my teammates will be yet, but if I determine that I can trust them with the information, then I will share it with them."

The older man nodded and stood up. "Very well, you may go then. As fair warning, Ms. Goodwitch will most certainly be looking at you for by now, wondering where her lost student went. I would recommend talking to her over just slipping inside. Feel free to blame me for this, she's used to it by now." The boy simply nodded before turning and jogging back inside.

Ozpin simply sat there for a few minutes, staring around at the scenery of the courtyard. His thoughts were miles away – in the emerald forest to be exact – thinking deep thoughts. _How do I get him not only with strong, competent, trustworthy hunters, but with this Nora Valkyrie as well?_

Ren had found the infamous Ms. Goodwitch quickly enough. She had been stalking through the halls, white knuckled fist wrapped around a riding crop. Ren had been half worried she was going to spank him with it for disappearing. After a few words, she had led him to the ballroom where the students had set up their belongings and were lounging around. After a few minutes of diligent searching, Ren found Nora in the back corner of the room, and he couldn't stop himself from groaning. Four boys were standing in front of her, brandishing weapons. Nora stood facing them, holding Magnhild, and sporting a maniacal grin. A small crowd of curious onlookers, including a somewhat familiar red-head, had gathered to watch whatever was about to go down.

"Move it short stuff," one of the boys said, brandishing his mace. He was obviously the leader of the bunch. Quietly, Ren slipped up behind him. Lashing out with his foot, Ren hit the larger boy behind his weight bearing knee. The leg buckled and the boy crashed to the floor. The kid had enough skill to land on one knee instead of his face, but that was what Ren had hoped for. A slim arm wrapped around the kid's neck, and Ren locked the kneeling boy into a headlock. Before the boy had a chance to stand up, Ren leaned back, forcing the kid into leaning back too.

"So Nora, care to explain what is going on?" Ren asked calmly, almost as if he were oblivious to the large student he had trapped.

"They wanted to take our spot," she said, gesturing with her hammer.

"No way," one of the boys said. Ren raised a skeptical eyebrow. Sure, Nora would exaggerate her tiny butt off to anyone else, but Nora was always honest with him.

"She's telling the truth," someone said behind him. Ren turned his head to see who the speaker was. It was the red-head he had noticed earlier – he swore she looked familiar, like someone he should know – gazing at them.

"See, I told you so," Nora said. Slumping in defeat, the boys backed away. One of them muttered something about an outlet. "Ren, you're still holding one of them." Sighing, Ren let go of the now red-faced boy. He stood up and furiously spun around.

"Who the dust do you-" he started to say, but was cut off as Nora gave him a hard kick in the…lower extremities. Ren winced, fully aware of just how strong Nora was. Wheezing, the boy toppled sideways to the floor. One of his friends came back and dragged the crying boy away.

"Thank you for the help. My name is Ren, and this is Nora," Ren said, turning to the red-headed girl and offering his hand.

"It is a pleasure to help potential friends, Ren," the girl smiled taking his hand. "My name is Pyrr-"

"PYRRHA NIKOS!" Nora practically screeched. It drew every eye in the room, but thankfully it was mostly unintelligible. Nora tackled the other girl to the floor and started babbling, asking for an autograph, or a souvenir, or some cereal because she was starving and Ren wouldn't make her pancakes. Several minutes later, Ren had peeled Nora off the poor Spartan – earning several bruises in the process – and began apologizing to her. To his surprise, she was just laughing.

"Ha, you're a strong one," the champion wheezed out, clutching her side. "And don't worry about it Ren, it's no different than normal. And I'm sorry Nora, I don't just carry cereal with me, so I don't have any to give you. But I do hope dinner is soon, I'm ravenous."

Ren exhaled a huge sigh of relief. They weren't going to be sued for assault. Once, when Nora had seen the mascot for a local arcade, she had tackled the poor worker through a wall. It was not a fun experience to clean up. "I hope we have dinner soon as well. Would you like to eat with us?" he said.

"That sounds lovely," Pyrrha said, beaming at her new friends. As if summoned by their conversation, Professor Goodwitch appeared and announced that she would lead them to dinner. Happily, the three friends strolled off into with the crowd, anxious to get some food.

 **Hey reader, thanks for reading this. Hit the favorite button if you liked what you read. Follow if you want to keep up with the story as it progresses. Please leave a review if you liked it, hated it, didn't care, or just because. I appreciate the feedback, and it does help the story go. Anyways, glad you enjoyed. Peace out**


	2. Chapter 2

"So, there we were, in a dark and mysterious forest, surrounded by Ursas," Nora said, brandishing her fork. She, Ren, and Pyrrha were sitting at a table by themselves, enjoying both their dinner and Nora's exciting – if somewhat exaggerated – stories. The chefs had offered to make any kind of food that the students wanted, so naturally, the orange haired girl had gotten…pancakes.

"We ran into one Ursa in the woods to the south of Vale," Ren translated for the sake of their new friend. He had opted for some plain noodles in a white-ish, creamy sauce. Pyrrha, being the typical Mistralian, had gotten some kind of spicy chicken.

"Well, Grimm are still challenging for anyone at that age," the Spartan said, completely rapt by the other girl's story-telling.

"I had perfected Magnhild by this point…" Nora boasted, patting the grenade launcher that was sitting beside her on the bench.

"This was the first field test," Ren muttered around a mouthful of noodles.

"So I pulled it out,"

"She dropped it on the ground trying to pull it out."

"And I turned it into a hammer, and hit the Ursa so hard, the Ursa blew up, but it damaged my precious hammer in the process."

"She hadn't tested to see if the grenades would go off if she hit something with it," Ren finished, slurping the last of his noodles. For a brief moment, Pyrrha just looked back and forth between the two of them. Then, she burst into laughter.

"That's a wonderful story!" she proclaimed, wiping a tear of mirth from her eye. "You two seem to have had quite the adventurous childhood."

"I guess you could say that," Ren said, looking down. _You killed them all, murderer._ Ren's head snapped up. Pyrrha and Nora were chatting away, as if they hadn't heard that voice.

"So, where are you two from?" Pyrrha asked innocently. "I'm sure your parents are wonderful people." Nora stopped talking and hung her head.

"Pyrrha," Ren said. The red-head turned to look at him, and gasped. She saw the looked of barely contained pain. "We're…we're orphans. Our parents our dead."

"Oh my," the Spartan said, raising a hand to cover her mouth. "I'm so sorry, I didn't realize."

"No, it's okay," Nora said, looking back up. "You couldn't have known." The group sat in silence for a few moments none of them wanting to break the gloomy silence. Eventually, Pyrrha spoke up.

"You said 'our parents' earlier. Are you two siblings?" the re-head asked. The two other students shared a quick look, then Nora burst into laughter. Ren even let out a small smile.

"No, we've just been good friends for a long time," the calm boy said, still grinning. Pyrrha's face immediately turned red, causing Nora to fall backwards off the bench, roaring with laughter.

"Oh, so are you guys dating or som-" Pyrrha began before being cut off.

"No, we're not, like together-together or anything," Nora said, hopping back up to the bench. "We're just besties, BFFs, you know, that sort of thing, We've been together a while, mostly because Ren makes really good pancakes, like, really good, and…" The ginger haired girl began her normal babbling. Pyrrha was soon fascinated by the energy the other girl had and laughed at the funny parts. Ren just buried his head in his hands, opting for letting Nora get her energy out now before he was trying to sleep. _Murderer. Half-bred Half-breed._

"Ren?" a concerned voice said. Ren looked up to see his two companions staring at him.

"Yes?" he asked.

"Your hands are shaking," Pyrrha said. It was true. The boy tried to press his hands flat against the table to stop them, but it didn't help.

"So it seems," he said, careful to keep his voice expressionless. "I'll be back in a minute." With that, Ren carefully rose and started walking out of the dining hall. He heard the two girls start whispering over behind him.

"What's up with him?" Pyrrha asked, her voice sounding like a concerned mother's.

"He's going to a place we dare not go," Nora said mysteriously.

"Where's that?"

"The men's room." The two girls burst into laughter. Ren paused at the doors to look back at the two girls. They were still sitting there, joking around and laughing. But from there, Ren could see that almost everyone in the hall were staring at the pair, or rather, at the four-time champion. _The price of fame is privacy_. He thought ruefully. _The price of friendship is death, for you._ The voice was back. Ren broke into a run, heading for nowhere, just trying to get away. _You can't run from your own mind, little storm._

"Do you think he's going to be a problem?" Glynda Goodwitch asked looking at her scroll. It was in its tablet form, and the security feed displayed on it showed Lie Ren, a new student, running towards the emerald forest.

"Not if we handle the situation properly," Ozpin replied, sipping his coffee. The two of them were currently in Ozpin's office at the top of the tower.

"You know that stories Ozpin, better than I even," the woman said, her eyes never leaving the video. The boy was almost at the cliffs. "You know what it could become."

"Yes, I do. But _he_ does not have to follow that path," the man said, closing his eyes.

"Is there something you're not telling me Ozpin?"

"Maybe."

"Would you care to share this information?"

"Not just yet," he answered sitting up in his seat to look at his fellow teacher and longtime ally. "We are walking a fine line here, Glynda. There are many important things – some new, some old – converging right here at our school. The nature of these situations are that if we try to interfere, it would do nothing. Our best efforts cannot change what will pass, just the numbers of bodies that are left afterwards."

"But how will we know how it ends?" she asked, exasperated by the cryptic answers.

"Well, Glynda, do you believe in Destiny?"

Ren ran. He ran as fast as he could, as far as he could. Eventually, he found himself standing atop a cliff face. In the background, a dark, dense forest stretched to the horizon. The sounds of animals – both natural and Grimm – echoed through the oppressive woods. A faint breeze tickled the boy's face. The sun – which was beginning to touch the horizon – painted the sky brilliant shades of orange, red, and purple. And there he stood, gazing over into the forest, staring into nothing.

He forced himself to sit there, on the edge of the cliff; his many years of practiced calm fighting against the panic he felt. Crossing his legs, he closed his eyes, and began breathing deeply. He forced his mind to empty; no thoughts, no emotions. The wetness of the grass, which he could feel soaking into his pants, did not bother him. The cold nipping at his ears, his nose, his fingers, did not disturb him. He was nothing, void of all feeling.

A wise man had once taught him this technique, a way to battle the darkness. But still, Ren felt it. It was like a dark presence, curled around his spine. Even as he sat there, it stirred within him. _Murderer. Freak. Monster._ The words and the horrible voice washed over him, but they did nothing. He was a flower, a lotus, and although delicate, he would survive the storm to grow and thrive. Eventually, the dark feeling in his chest settled down.

He opened his eyes to the dead of night. But dead was not the right term. The wind still blew by him. He still heard the noises of the forest's inhabitants. Every now and then, a gleam of red light gave away the presence of a Grimm in the woods. Ren took one final, deep breath before standing up. Pulling out his scroll, he noticed the time. _An hour, really?_ He had missed a call from Nora. He played the message, and smiled at her exuberant voice.

 _'Hey Renny. Just calling you to check in. Everyone's heading back to the ballroom, so I'm going to bed. Try to be back before midnight, if you can. Take your medicine._ Another voice said something unintelligible in the background and Nora yells a response back to them. _Pyrrha's worried about you, but I've got it covered. Be safe out there. Also, tell the sloth assassin's to be on standby in the morning. BYEEEE!'_

Ren gave a snort listening to the last part of the message. Sighing, he took off back towards the school. He wanted to get back before midnight. Nora had a terrible habit of getting into some kind of trouble when he wasn't around.

He had made it back, changed, and was in his sleeping bag ten minutes before his deadline. Nora had already been asleep next to their stuff, so he'd been careful not to wake her. As he sat there, trying to fall asleep, he looked out at the mass of teenagers in the room, trying to envision his future with this group of rambunctious youths. He watched as a blonde guy in a onesie – who still wore those anyway? – stroll confidently across the room. He watched two girls start a brawl next to a raven haired girl, only for another girl with white hair to come up and yell at them. These were going to be the next defendants of remnant? Ren doubted it, but there was nothing for it but to wait and see. Maybe, over the next four years, they would become something else. As he drifted off to sleep, the voice came back. _They may change, they may become better, but you'll always be what you are; a monster, a killer._

 **Hey reader, thanks for reading my story. Favorite if you like what you've seen. Follow if you want to see more. Leave a review if you have an opinion or question or whatever. Sorry for the short chapter, but I wanted to get all of initiation into one chapter, so I had to cut it off here. I hope you're all doing well, with about a month and a half to go until Volume 4 comes out. Peace out**


	3. Chapter 3

There is one thing above all else that male teenagers despise. It's not tests, exercise, or even Grimm. It is the dreaded _mornings._

Ren's eyes slowly drifted open, before snapping back shut. Whoever had the bright idea of getting up early in the morning was obviously not very smart. A conscious-sounding voice told Ren it had been his idea to get up and not sleep through initiation, but that couldn't be right. After all, the cold hard ground of the ballroom was just so comfortable.

Before Ren could drift off into the sweet embrace of sleep, it started. The horrendous beeping of doom, also known as an alarm clock. Almost like clockwork Nora leapt into the air and loomed over him, her breath warm on his face. Giving up hope, Ren let his eyes drift open. And there she was, bending over him, her face obscuring his vision, like some energizer-bunny/demon from hell – energizer demon? – to make sure he wouldn't go back to sleep. Snorting, Ren smiled up at Nora.

"WAKE UP LAZY BUTT!" Nora belted out. "~It's Morning, it's morning, it's morning, IT'S…MORNING~" Ren sighed. Nora began her normal routine of hyper-blabbering.

While he was brushing his teeth…

While he was packing his sleeping roll…

While he was eating breakfast (unless the sheer number of pancakes in her mouth prevented any sound from escaping)…

And even as he got ready for initiation…

"Can you imitate a Sloth?" the orange haired girl asked.

"Nora..." Ren sighed, slipping stormflower up his sleeves.

"Yes Ren?"

"I don't think sloths make a lot of noise."

"That's why it's perfect!" she continued. One of the first skills Ren had learned while being with Nora was to be able to listen to what she was saying enough so you could still do whatever work you were doing and still answer surprise questions. As he turned to leave, Ren spotted Pyrrha talking to the loud white-haired girl from the previous night. Said white haired girl was currently making faces while storm clouds bloomed behind her. Deciding it was not worth it to intervene, Ren left the locker-room with Nora following behind.

As they walked through the empty halls, Nora bounced from doorway to doorway, glancing into various classrooms.

"Oh, that teachers really fat and he has a cool mustache!"

"Nora, that wasn't very nice."

"Sorry Ren. Oh, that teacher is really fast. Like, me on caffeine fast. Can I race him? Can I, Can I?"

"Not right now Nora, we have initiation."

"Darn it. One day Speedy guy, one day I tell you!"

Eventually, the duo found themselves at the top of the cliffs. Ren idly noticed that this was where he had run to the night before to calm himself. In the daylight, the forest was even more alive. More animals – actual animals like birds, not Grimm – wandered about in the sunshine. The green canopy stretched to the horizon, shifting in the wind like the waters of an ocean. Instead of oppressive, it looked almost welcoming. Ren felt oddly happy there, just watching nature. He felt he could just relax…cut free and-

"Ren!" Nora hissed in his ear. He twitched back to reality at the sound of her voice. "Take your medicine, now." In a shocked daze, he remembered that he hadn't taken it when he had gotten up. Reaching into his pocket, he deftly opened the Prescription bottle and tipped out two pills into his palm before replacing the case.

As he popped the pills into his mouth, Ren chanced a quick glance around. The few students that had been up there all had dopey expressions on their faces. One boy, who had an obscenely large mace – had fallen asleep against a rock. Sighing, Ren sat down, crossing his legs.

"Sorry Nora, stupid semblance," he muttered under his breath. Even before Ren had shown up in Nora's village, his aura and semblance had been unlocked. Lie Ren had the gift, or curse, of being able to share his emotions with others around him. As in this case, as he felt calm and relaxed, so did everyone around him. Unfortunately, for all Ren's extensive training in aura control and manipulation, he had never been able to maintain control of his semblance. That was part of the reason for Ren's medicine; a cocktail of advanced anti-depressants and mood-stabilizers.

"Don't worry," Nora said, sitting down beside him and leaning on him. For all her immense strength, Nora was still light as a feather. "Besides, Macey over there looked like he was 'bout to spew."

"One, Macey? Really? Two, we should all be a little nervous about what we're about to do," the boy responded.

"Well," Nora said, straightening up and looking at Ren. "One, I don't know his name, but he has a mace, so I'm calling him Macey. Two, we'll be fine, we have the sloth assassins. Three, I have more points to you, I win!"

"Are we really going to see who can come up with more points?" Ren said, turning to face his partner. Slowly, a corner of his mouth perked up in what looked dangerously like a grin. "Because if so, I'll win."

"And what makes you say that?"

"Because I can count higher than you!"

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

The newly formed team Juniper sat in their room, staring awkwardly at each other. Initiation…well…it wasn't easy. They had made it through all right; mostly with some help from the new team RWBY. Now here they were, trying to decide what to do next. The teacher had suggested they get to know each other better, so there they were, sitting on the floor, waiting for someone to break the ice.

"So…" the blonde guy – Jaune, Ren remembered – began. "Did you guys hear about the teacher with one eye?"

"No, I don't think I have," Pyrrha asked, a puzzled look spreading across her face. Ren could practically hear the gears churning in the Spartan's head as she tried to figure out who he was talking about.

"I hear they let him go," Jaune continued. Ren could see the boy trying – and failing – to hold in his grin. "Turns out he only had one pupil!" The other three just stared at him.

"Jaune," Ren finally said, putting a hand on his new teammates shoulder. "There is a reason why there are no Blondes in comedy. They got joked about; they don't tell jokes." The two girls burst out giggling at this, and eventually, Jaune joined in.

"Well, at least I said something!" the blonde defended.

"Oh, we were talking, just psychically." Nora said, nodding slowly with a various serious look on her face.

"Yes," Ren said. "Pyrrha had just thought 'I really hope Jaune doesn't tell a bad joke'"

"I did not!" exclaimed Pyrrha, her face blushing a bright shade of red.

"Oh, no," Jaune said, clutching a hand to his chest in feigned anguish. "Betrayed by more partner. How could this happen? Woe is me, woe is me." Another raucous round of laughter enveloped the group.

"Ok guys, ok," Jaune said, gesturing the group to bring it back down. "In all seriousness, let's talk about Initiation. How about we each go around and say something that we thought was either good or went well as well as something that didn't?"

"Can I go first?" Nora pleaded, grabbing Jaune's shirt. "Can I? Pleeeeeeeeease?"

"Ok, just please don't rip my shirt!" Their leader squeaked.

"Yay!" Nora said, plopping back down on the floor. "Ok, it was totally awesome-cool all the Grimm we got to smash and blow up, and stab for you guys, and for Yang to punch. But not so much that they didn't have Pancakes for Dinner! It's unheard of!" Jaune and Pyrrha gave Ren questioning looks, but he just shook his head, telling them to let it go.

"Well," Pyrrha said. "I for one am pleased with our team, and our comrades team, RWBY. However, I do feel concerned about a few others; CRDL, for instance."

"I hear ya," Jaune said, sighing tiredly. "But for me, I think it was cool how well we worked together, considering we had known each other for all of a few hours."

"Well…" Pyrrha said, looking down rather pointedly at her shoes. Jaune raised an eyebrow at her. "We, um, us three, may have met yesterday."

For a moment Jaune stared at her, before turning to Nora and Ren, "Is this why I wasn't in the Psychic conversation?"

Ren snorted, before replying, "That, and to try to minimize the bad jokes." The group of trainees burst into laughter again. Ren slowly rose to his feet and walked over to his bags.

"Ren?" Jaune asked, stopping the other boys in his tracks. "What about you?"

"I as well like our coordination, but what I most certainly did not like," said the ninja, turning to stare very pointedly at Nora. "Was chasing down my partner who was riding an Ursa like a horse. Nora, add it to the list." Nora tried to protest, but Ren's commanding gaze overruled her arguments. Begrudgingly she took out her scroll and began typing.

"Wait, what list," asked a very confused Jaune.

"A list of things that Ren never wants me to do ever again," came the surprisingly calm reply from Nora.

"Can we add never go into a Death-stalkers nest unless we have to?" asked Pyrrha innocently, trying to hide her blush.

"Oh don't worry, Ren's had me add it a few times," smiled Nora. Pausing, Nora turned to face the other pair. "Is that why there was a humungous Death Stalker following you?"

"I'm sorry, ok," came a playfully annoyed Jaune. "I thought the big glow-y orange thing was the relic."

As his teammates bantered, Ren slipped quietly into the shower. Locking the door behind him, the green warrior began to disrobe, revealing the map of pain that was his body. Bullet scars of varying size dotted his chest among the collection of slashing white lines of other scars. Looking in the mirror, Ren sighed before turning onto the shower. **_One day, they'll know you for what you are monster. They'll fear you, hate you, and make me stronger. They'll die because of you…_**

 **Thanks for reading guys. The ten or so of you who are still with me, it means a lot to me. I skipped over initiation because the chapter would be about three times as long, and I was keeping it the same as RT's, so I just left it out. Anyways, please leave a review down below. It truly does the help me write these. Favorite if you like what you've read so far, maybe go read one of my other stories too. Follow if you want to keep up with the story as it progresses. Peace out!**

 **P.S. I was thinking of throwing in some crazy ships into this story, but I'm not sure. Let me know in your review what either your favorite ship is or the craziest one you've heard of is. (No heresy please. That ships can go fuck itself back to wherever it came from).**


	4. Chapter 4

It was the third day after the initiation and team selection ceremony. The previous two days, they had been examined in all their classes. For Port, they were required to do an in-depth analysis of every Grimm that they had killed during their initiation, including what aspects they did well and where they needed improvement. For Oobleck, an ungodly long test was expected to be completed in less than half an hour. To Ren's frustration, he hadn't even been able to finish the test. However, when he later talked to his team about it, the ninja discovered that no one had finished it. They had gone through almost every test, with one remaining; combat class with Goodwitch. It was a miniature tournament between the teams. Each team would compete against others, and the winning team would flip a coin to determine the pair to go on, and again for the singles round. The whole test would test each of the newly formed teams' cooperation and skill on every level.

Lie Ren was up early, and given his hatred for mornings, that meant only one thing; pancake day. The young man was standing in the communal kitchen for the dorms wearing his pink – it's a very manly color – apron which read "Ultimate Pancake/Sloth Master". Below that, in a smaller script, "Do not kiss, touch, or do anything to the chef." It, being a gift from Nora, was practically his uniform when cooking, and was as much a part of him as the single pink streak in his hair (also from Nora). At about eight o'clock, Ren, believing he had made enough pancakes for him and his team to get some before Nora ate them all (she couldn't eat more than a hundred, could she?), sent a message off to his teammates.

 _Homemade Breakfast is ready, come and get it_

Ren started a stopwatch on his phone. Precisely two and a half seconds later, an almighty roar of "PANCAKES!" echoed in the dorm, and a pink blur appeared in front of the boy. Nora, almost quivering with excitement, stared hungrily at her life-long friend. "Where!" was the only thing she said. Ren just pointed and the orange-haired girl vanished. Ren followed her and sat down at the table.

Eventually, a bleary eyed Jaune and a chipper Pyrrha entered the kitchen.

"You made breakfast Ren?" the Spartan asked, to which Ren nodded humbly. "That's wonderful! Thank you very much Ren."

"Coffee?" the blonde knight grunted. Ren pointed over to the counter, where a full pot sat freshly brewed. The knight trudged off to get his fill of caffeine. Once sated, he rejoined his team at the breakfast table. "Thanks Ren, you're a life-saver."

"You're welcome," the green clad student replied.

"Nice apron by the way," Jaune said seriously.

"Nice onesie." An awkward silence enveloped the table.

"Both of you!" Pyrrha finally exclaimed. "That was completely uncalled for, not to mention rude."

"What?" Jaune said, puzzled. "I was being serious. Pink is a real man's color."

"As was I," Ren followed up. "Sleep ware should be chosen on comfort, not looks. It takes a brave man to wear a onesie in front of girls." The two men nodded at each other before resuming breakfast. Nora giggled at Pyrrha's deep blush before resuming her battle with her impressive – and imposing – stack of pancakes.

"So…is everyone ready for our combat exam?" Pyrrha asked, beaming at her team.

"Absolutely, Commander Cereal!" Nora said, throwing the other girl a fake salute. "Myself and Major Pancakes are ready for battle!"

"We should probably hammer out some kind of strategy, just to be safe," commented Jaune over his Coffee. "We worked okay together against the Grimm during initiation, but they're not very intellectual. Today we're fighting other people, and they probably have plans of their own ready."

"Good idea," Ren replied, finishing his pancakes. "As leader, do you have any ideas?"

"Well…" Jaune looked around at his teammates, rubbing the back of his head. "Not yet. I guess we should see who we're up against to have a real plan."

"Maybe working in partners would be a good idea," added Pyrrha. "Ren, you and Nora have known each other for a long time, so you guys should do well together. I know Jaune and I can perform well." Oddly enough, Pyrrha's face turned slightly redder.

"Yeah, that'll work," Jaune said, standing up. "I'll get the dishes, since you did the cooking Ren." The rest of JNPR objected, trying to help, but their leader was having none of it.

…

"Good job you guys!" Ruby said, appearing in front of team JNPR in a cloud of rose petals. Said team had just defeated their opening team. "You guys beat them so fast!" It was true. The only significant resistance the other team had given was that two of their opponents had ganged up on Jaune to try to knock at least one of them out and even the numbers a bit. Those two were still firmly embedded in the ceiling of the arena, curtesy of Spartan.

"It was brief, but a good fight," Pyrrha said.

"Pssh, you're just being modest," Yang said, appearing behind her sister. "You wiped the floor with them." The group walked back to the stands, joining Weiss and Blake.

"You all fought well," Weiss greeted to them. Blake looked up from her book to nod at her friends before continuing reading.

"Would Weiss Schnee and Ruby Rose report to the arena. The first match of the doubles round will commence," Professor Goodwitch's voice said, echoing slightly. The two partners quickly got up to leave for their match.

"I'm so glad they figured themselves out," sighed Yang when they were out of earshot.

"What do you mean?" a puzzled Jaune asked.

"Don't tell me you didn't notice the tension between them,"

"Well…they were acting a little…hostile," Pyrrha said. The rest of team JNPR nodded their agreement.

"Yeah, Weiss didn't think that Ruby was good enough to be leader because she was too young or somethin'," Yang said, leaning back into the bleachers. "Then they both disappeared after class yesterday, and the next morning they were all friendly. I have my theories on what they were doing."

"They were not having sex Yang," growled Blake, her eyes never leaving her book. "Get your head out of the gutter already. You'll get your hair dirty."

"Oof," Yang said, dramatic wincing at her partner's words. "Betrayed by my own partner." Team JNPR chuckled this. "Although, that comment was kind of…hair-y!" All laughter stopped. "What?"

"And I thought Jaune was bad," Ren muttered.

"Oh come on," Yang complained. "It was good."

"What was good?" Ruby asked. The entire group jumped at her sudden appearance.

"Ruby!" exclaimed Yang. "Aren't you supposed to be fighting?"

"We've already finished," huffed an annoyed – a surprisingly normal state considering – Weiss. "Not that you were paying attention."

"Would Cardin Winchester and Russel Thrush please report to the arena," Goodwitch announced.

"Oh, I hope we get to break their legs!" Nora exclaimed.

"Did you have a nice nap Nora?" Ren deadpanned. "Also, please don't break anyone's legs here. We were lucky you didn't have to pay for the last girl's medical bills."

"But she was asking for it!" defended the grenadier.

"She just said that waffles were better than pancakes."

"HERESY! SACRILIGE!"

"Would Lie Ren and Nora Valkyrie please make report to the Arena."

"Yay!" Nora vanished, faster than even Ruby could track. The lotus warrior just sighed as he stood up. At least he didn't have to fight against her.

…

Ren stood on one side of the arena with Nora. On the other side, Cardin and Russel did their best to look menacing. It would have worked better if they had any sort of reputation to back it up, but Ren had already decided that, based on their first match, that these two weren't much of a threat.

"You all know the rules," Professor Goodwitch's voice announced. "Standard tournament regulations. First pair whose aura drops to the red zone, or leaves the arena, will lose. Ready?" Both sides nodded. "Begin!"

"Quick question losers," Cardin said, hoisting his mace onto his shoulder, sauntering into the arena. Ren and Nora paused at this, wary that it was some kind of trick. "How did that idiot Arc end up on a team with three chicks?" Total silence enveloped the arena.

Finally, someone in the crowd – probably Yang – called out, "Hey dumb-ass, Ren's a dude!" Laughter broke out amongst the audience. Cardin scowled at the noise, until he saw his opponents faces. Nora's was contorted with anger, obviously pissed off about her best friend's insult. But even worse was Ren's; showing absolutely no emotion. That kind of stoniness was just…unnatural.

"Nora," Ren said, tilting his head towards his partner.

"Yes Ren?"

"Have fun."

"Of course," Nora said, her face now sporting a wicked grin. Suddenly, the girl exploded into action. "HAVE AT THEE!" She leapt toward Winchester and swung her hammer down at him. Cardin brought his mace up to defend, but the force of the blow drove the bigger boy to his knees. Russel turned to assist his leader, but a line of bullets kicked up dust in his path, cutting him off. Russel leapt back, dodging a slash from Ren.

"Hey dude, no hard feelings, right?" Russel said, backing away from Ren as the ninja approached.

"I don't mind being insulted much," he replied, stalking towards the dual knife wielder. "I've heard better insults from worse people. Nora on the other hand, she doesn't appreciate it at all."

"Sorry dude, it just looked like you were a girl because even you have bigger breasts than that white-haired girl. Ren stopped dead in his tracks. For the second time that fight, the crowd was hushed, except for the sounds of Weiss's team trying to restrain the heiress from killing the unfortunate boy. Even Nora paused, holding Cardin in the air by an ankle.

"Insulting me is one issue," Ren said calmly. The ninja surprised everyone by immediately sheathing Stormflower. "But my friends, that's something I won't stand for." Suddenly, Ren blurred forward and picked up Russel by the front of his shirt. "Now I have to teach you a lesson of respect." The ninja threw Russel across the ring, the boy bouncing and skidding to a stop near the center of the ring. As Russel got to his feet, he found Ren sprinting after him. Russel ran forward to meet him, slashing wildly at the ninja boy. But every attack just seemed to miss. Ren weaved through each attack, moving slowly yet gracefully. To the casual observer, it would have looked like some kind of dance, but Russel could not lay a finger – or rather a blade – on Ren. Eventually, feeling like he had toyed with his opponent enough, Ren lunged undo a slash and delivered a palm strike to Russel's chest. The boy skidded backwards, surprisingly managing to stay on his feet. When he came to a stop, he looked up and was shocked to see Ren's face inches from his own.

"The next time you go after my friends," Ren stated, his voice quiet enough to only be audible to the two of them. "Remember my face." As Russel watched in horror. Ren's pink eyes darkened to a blood red. "Remember." Faster than the eye could track Ren threw a punch into the terrified boy's face. Russel was knocked backwards into the wall of the rink, being embedded several inches into the stone. Even with aura left – just a hair above empty – the boy was knocked unconscious. Ren turned and walked towards the exit, even as a bell rang, signaling Cardin's aura hitting red. As Ren, reached the entrance of the locker-rooms, Nora caught up to him.

"Are you ok?" Nora asked in a serious tone.

"I'm in control," Ren answered curtly, opening his locker.

"Not what I asked," Nora said, opening hers as well. It had been a happy coincident – or careful planning of Ozpin's part – that their lockers had been put together.

"Did you break his legs?" Ren asked, hanging Stormflower in his locker.

A grin broke across Nora's face before she answered, "Nah, be his armor is going to need some serious repairing though."

"I never got why some people think big, heavy armor is such a good idea. With aura, all it does is slow you down."

"I know," the orange haired girl gushed. She began to babble as the two friends exited the locker-room. Ren smiled slightly as his life-long friend started her usual mile-a-minute rambling. **_Killer. You could have ended him. Could have released me_** _._ By reflex, Ren pulled out his medicine and took a pill. The voice cackled as it faded from the boy's thoughts. Ren's smile faded, and he forced his mind empty, even as he walked to his friends. He was a lotus, calm and undisturbed…

 **Oooh, suspense. What happened to Ren in the arena? What is with this medicine he is taking? Will the author ever get around to answering these questions? (Will the author stop speaking in third person? Probably not) The next chapter will begin to look at all this. Keep reading to see what's next.**

 **Also, Volume 4! It has arrived! Before I say anything else, Spoiler alert, skip this section if you haven't seen it yet. As of writing this, I've seen the first two episodes, and damn, those feels. Pyrrha coming back to emotionally scar us (again) from beyond the grave. Personally, I would have liked Jaune to keep her weapons as they were, because then there would have been a chance for her to come back. But all those feels man.**

 **As always, please leave a review of what you thought. I always try to respond to reviews and listen to your guys's advice. You all help write the story as much as I do. Favorite if you liked what you've read so far. Follow if you want to keep up with the story as it progresses. Thanks, peace out!**


	5. Chapter 5

One by one, round by round, the mock-tournament continued. It ended up talking the entire day just so the students could have an opportunity to rest. As the final round approached, no one (excluding a very bitter team CRDL) was surprised by the final two combatants; Ren vs. Weiss. The two trainees stood on opposite sides of the arena.

Professor Goodwitch strode out in the middle of no-man's land in between the contestants. "This is the final round of the Beacon Entrance Tournament. The same rules apply. Are both contestants ready?" Two nods. "Then set," Both contestants take their stances. The lights outside of the arena lowered, casting the audience in shadows. "Begin!"

Weiss reacts first, launching icicles made from the dust in her rapier. Ren let out a short burst of fire from his Stormflowers. Every bullet hits and destroys an oncoming projectile. Weiss tried again with fireballs, but again the green-clad ninja shot them out of the sky. The heiress' face contorted into a small scowl, frustrated by her attacks' failure. A glyph appeared behind her and Weiss launched herself at Ren.

Steel met steel with a harsh **CLANG** as Ren deflected Myrtenaster down and away from him. He countered by swinging the other Stormflower at the girl's head, but she spun away, nimble as a dancer. Weiss disengaged, backing a few feet away to try to come up with some semblance of a strategy. Ren had other ideas however. He threw his right-hand weapon to the side while unloading the other one at Weiss. Said heiress raised a glyph in front of her to block the bullets. She started to prepare her counter attack when she heard a faint whistling. Ducking on pure instinct, she watched as the knife/gun Ren had thrown earlier flew over her head. Some small part in the back of her mind realized that Ren must have bounced the weapon of the protective shielding in between the students and arena.

Unfortunately for the dust user, the flying weapon distracted her long enough for Ren to reload his remaining weapon and fire at her again, a few bullets hitting her before the glyph snapped back into existence. Weiss spared her scroll a glance, then a second as she noticed she was down almost a third while Ren had barely used any.

While the young woman was checking her phone (kids these days), Ren made it over to where his other Stormflower had landed. The two fighters began circling around each other, having gained a sense of the others capability. As she walked, Weiss began laying out Glyphs at what appeared to be random spots around the ring. Realizing what she was trying to do, Ren charged a let loose a few quick shots to draw the girl's attention. Good news; he got her attention. Bad news; she was already done summoning her glyphs. Weiss turned into a blur of white, moving with a speed that almost matched Ruby, bouncing around and making quick slashes or touches to the boy's torso.

A few agonizing seconds later, Ren broke out of the trap. Weiss let her glyphs dissipate, a smug smile having replaced the scowl she wore earlier. Both contests checked their aura levels.

 _Lie Ren – 40%_

 _Weiss Schnee – 50%_

 _That is going to be a problem._ Ren thought, considering his deficit. Aura enhanced attacks were now out of the question, as they were too much of a gamble. If Weiss avoided those attacks, which she already demonstrated she was more than able to do, he would just burn his reserves hitting air.

 ** _Kill her. One more won't matter. Not to what you've done._**

… _And the voice is back._ Ignoring it, Ren was left with two options; either win on skill alone, or use Nora's last birthday present for him. _Nora will be so happy._

The boy suddenly dropped out of his combat stance, spreading his arms wide and sauntering towards Weiss. The heiress, along with Professor Goodwitch and almost every onlooker, were confused by the boy's change in attitude, and were astounded that the normally impassive Ren actually knew how to smile. Only two members of the audience had a clue what Ren was doing. Pyrrha thought it was some kind of late-match intimidation game, with her teammate telling Weiss that a) he wasn't scared of her lead and b) he could beat her despite it. Nora however, noticed the bright pink magazines strapped to his legs, and that they were the last of Ren's ammo on hand. In truth, the young hunter in training's plan was something of both.

Suddenly, Ren's arms snapped forward and ejected the partially full magazines in the Stormflowers. On pure instinct, Weiss sidestepped so that each make-shift projectile would miss, passing on either side of her. But even as the two clips tumbled through the air, Ren brought his twin gun/blades down, slamming them onto his last two ammo clips, and thumbing both guns over to single fire. He squeezed both triggers simultaneously and his trusty weapons spat out two unusually larger rounds. Weiss almost smirked as she raised a wall of ice in front of her, utilizing her dust over aura. In an almost comedic fashion, the girls' eyes widened in a mixture of shock and horror as the two rounds went wide of her shield, hitting the two magazines he had thrown, causing all the remaining bullets, as well as the copious amounts of dust Nora had packed in her 'special rounds', to explode (in bright pink and green none the less). Weiss was sent flying through her dust-wall to land and tumble to a stop near Ren.

The lights came back up and Weiss looked up to see her opponent offering her a small smile and a hand. She took the hand but did not return the smile.

"And the match goes to Lie Ren, by way of Aura depletion," Professor Goodwitch called out for the class, who were either cheering loudly or moaning loudly. Ren caught a glimpse of Yang handing over a few lien cards over to Nora, who sported a wicked grin. "Miss Schnee put on an excellent fight, using her semblance and dust to fight tactically. However, her plans were based solely on what she had seen before, and did not account for any hidden surprises." Weiss let out a small sigh. While she normally would have been upset about the critique, she had just lost, so it was deserved, but just in this instance.

"Mr. Lie put up an impressive defense, waiting to analyze his opponent before deciding on the correct time to strike. In addition, he was able to adapt his strategy to overcome his disadvantage after the second exchange. That being said…" she turned and gave said student a glare. "This is combat class, so a more active offense would be appreciated. Had this not been the final match, a time restraint would have been implemented to avoid stalling. Now, do either of you have any recommendations for your opponents?" Ren gave the blonde teacher a small bow before turning to Weiss.

"Well fought," he said, extending his hand to the white-haired girl. "You are an impressive fencer and a formidable opponent. However, while fencing is effective against swords and weapons of similar length, and your dust usage makes up for any weakness at long ranges, neither are particularly effective at short range. You may want to consider a parrying dagger, as it would be the easiest solution without greatly effecting your style."

"Fair enough," Weiss sniffed. "But your throwing away your ammunition was both wasteful and risky. Had you mistimed your shots, or simply missed, you would have lost what ammo was there and left yourself at a disadvantage."

"Fair enough," he replied. Both fighters turned around and headed to the locker room to change out before heading to dinner.

… … … … … … … … …

"That was SO COOL!?" Nora squealed. Teams JNPR and RWBY were sitting at their usual spot in the mess hall enjoying a well-earned dinner. While RBY were trying to console a bitter W, Nora was ranting on the battle from earlier that day. She quickly took another bite of pancakes before resuming her mile-a-minute speaking. "First you guys were all like 'Swish, slash, stabby' But then Weiss turned into Ruby, and then Ren blew up Weiss and she was like 'Oh knowwww, I lost to the best fighter in beacon'."

"Nora," Ren said, interrupting his partner.

"Yes Renny?"

"I know, I was there. In fact, I think we all were," a small round of laughter came from the group at the usually stoic boy's deadpan.

"That doesn't mean she should stop!" an indignant Ruby shouted playfully. "Nora has the best stories, like, EVER!"

"Oh, I see how it is," said Yang with a mock tone of betrayal. "Big Sis' stories aren't good enough for you anymore?" Ruby spluttered, and more laughter came from the table. Even the Ice Queen herself gave a small smile.

"Well Yang," Ren answered, suppressing a grin. "If your usual speech is any indication, she just may not find them as pun-ny as they once were." Dead silence enveloped the table.

"Is that a challenge, my green friend?" Yang asked rising to her feet. "Well, then let the _pun_ begin!" a collection of groans emanated from the table.

"You shouldn't have wondered into my arena, Yang," Ren began quietly. "I'll have to charge you _Ren_ -t."

"This is actually kind of refreshing ninja-boy," Yang replied, adopting her usual dust-eating grin. "WE should _Yang_ out more oft- _Ren._ "

"You should focus on the quality of your puns, not the quantity of them," the ninja retorted. "In a crowd of hunters, too many can give of a really bad aura." At approximately this point, the rest of the table passed out from the quantity of bad puns.

"Is it because you can't think of anymore? You should go _hunt_ for some more."

"It's a rather _Grimm_ possibility."

Yang paused for a moment, considering another approach. "Why didn't the bicyclist enter the unicycle race? Because he was _too_ _tired_."

"I'm not sure our friends can stand our comedy," the ninja replied. "It's a vicious _cycle._ "

"But they're _wheel_ -y good stuff. Don't _Ren_ away yet!"

This time, it was Ren's turn to pause. "Some Veterans of the Great war survived mustard gas and pepper spray. By the time the war ended, they were _seasoned_ veterans."

Yang tried her best to suppress a laugh, but it just gave Ren an opportunity to continue. "I see you finished your drink, Yang. Should I get you a _thirst aid kit_?" Yang froze unnaturally still for a moment. A few seconds later, the blonde brawler roared with laughter, much to the surprise of everyone else.

When she finally had died down, Ruby stood up on the bench to give a proclamation, "Yang's tyrannical reign as pun-master has finally been overthrown. The Queen is dead, long live the King!" the rest the other girls and Jaune would have joined her if they weren't still lying on the floor, groaning and face-palming. Dinner continued like that until the two teams finally went to bed.

 **Hey reader, thanks for checking out my story. I have to apologize for two things. First would be the long time between updates. December and January have been really hard for me, and even now I'm sick with a fever trying to write fanfiction, so if this chapter sucks blame it on whatever bug I have. Second thing would be not addressing the things I mentioned in my last AN. I originally was going to skip the end of the 'tournament', but I went back a watched RWBY (Yes, all of it, in one day, I have no life) and I couldn't find an instance of Ren ever winning an 1 on 1 battle, which really bothered me since Ren is a certified badass. So i decided to change things up. The next chapter is going to start dealing with those things as well as start diverging from canon a little.**

 **As always, if you liked what you read, favorite the story. If you want to keep up with it as I write more (which I will be doing), follow it. Please leave a review with your thoughts, questions, opinions, etc. It really helps the story along, and since I don't have a beta reader for this, I might be prone to leaving in a plot hole or two. Peace out**


	6. Chapter 6

**Before we begin, I'd like to address something. Now, I know my last chapter was probably not my best work, but still, I got literally** ** _no_** **reviews on it. If no one had read it, that'd be one thing, but I know I got over a hundred views on it. When I say the reviews help, I mean it. Even if you say, "Good Chapter" and nothing else, that's great! It means I'm writing stuff people enjoy. So, in response to no reviews last chapter, I give to you, a double-length chapter. Enjoy**

If there was one thing Ren most certainly wasn't, it was stupid. Now, he would never claim to be smart (he wasn't a braggart after all), but that doesn't mean he was stupid. So, after a month since the beginning of the school year, when he saw that Jaune was sitting silently in the mess hall during lunch, he knew something was up. It was similar to that feeling watching his leaders earlier match against Cardin, but not quite. Jaune was even tuning out Nora's story, which admittedly she had told her team about almost every day (Ren privately wondered if he should take Nora to talk to someone about it, but he valued his kneecaps too highly), but Jaune was normally enthralled by it.

"…selling Ursa skin rugs." Nora concluded happily.

"She's been having this recurring dream for nearly a month now," Ren deadpanned, gesturing with his tea. An small moment of silence passed, with the only sound being the fork Jaune dragged through his food, and the constant sound of Weiss' manicuring.

"Jaune, are you okay?" Pyrrha asked, getting fed up with her partner's sulking.

"Huh?" Jaune eloquently responded, jumping in his seat. "Oh, yeah. Why?"

"It's just that…" the resident 15 year old began, rubbing her hands nervously. "you seem a little…not okay?" At the younger girls words, the whole table stopped what they were doing. Even Blake put down her book, something that only happened with the most serious of topics. Well, that, or the dumbest acts of stupidity, but Ren didn't think this was one of those.

"Guys, I'm fine. Seriously, look." Jaune gave one of the worst fake grins Ren had ever seen in his life, with the complementary thumbs up to boot. The tables discussion was interrupted by a burst of raucous laughter. Ren glanced over his shoulder and saw that team CRDL was harassing a Faunus girl; her name was Verdette, or something like that. Nora started to get up, but Ren stopped her with a hand on her shoulder.

"Jaune, Cardin's been picking on you since the first week of school." Pyrrha said, a hint of frustration coloring her voice.

"Who? Cardin Winchester?" stammered the knight, trying sate his friends. "Nah, he just likes to mess around, you know? Practical jokes."

"He's a bully!" insisted Ruby.

"Oh, please," Jaune objected. "Name one times he's 'bullied' me." Everyone else at the table raised an eyebrow at the socially awkward blonde. A small montage of all the times Cardin had picked on Jaune flew through their collective heads. They didn't even want to think of the one where Jaune was found hanging from the sword of the statue in the courtyard by his onesie.

"I didn't land _too_ far from the school," he pleaded, referencing the first "practical joke".

"Jaune, you know if you ever need help, you can just ask," Pyrrha said, looking directly in the dumb, sorry, oblivious knight's eyes.

"Oh!" exclaimed Nora. "We'll break his legs!" Ren absently reached up and grabbed Nora by the back of her shirt, hauling her back to the bench. For all her strength, Nora didn't weigh that much.

"Guys, really, it's fine." Jaune said, trying to sound final as he stood up. "Besides, it's not like he's only a jerk to me. He's a jerk to everyone." Once again, the group looked over to where Cardin and company were bullying, more like torturing, the rabbit Faunus girl. Cardin was pulling on one of her ears.

"Atrocious," Pyrrha spat venomously. "I can't stand people like him."

"He's not the only one," Blake added, just as angry towards the bully.

"It must be hard to be a Faunus," commented Yang, the brawler slumping forward on an elbow. Blake sighed, hiding behind her book to conceal a melancholy smile. The group largely returned to what they were doing, but quick glance between the leaderless JNPRs told them they all agreed.

"I'll talk to him," Pyrrha whispered, just loud enough for her teammates to hear.

… … … … … … …

"That was rough," Ren commented. He was currently sitting on his bed, cleaning his weapons. Nora probably should have been doing the same, but she was too busy bouncing up and down on hers.

"Yeah, I know. History is the _worst_!" the bubbly ginger said, doing a mid-air cart-wheel.

"I meant lunch and our team situation," the boy commented. He finished his work and holstered his weapon back up his sleeve.

"Yeah, that too." Nora punctuated her sentence with a belly flop, bouncing back up to her feet. "You think Pyrrha is okay talking to him? I mean, with her liking him and all?"

"Well…" Ren replied, standing up. "Seeing as how we haven't heard any high-pitched screaming, she hasn't done anything _too_ drastic to him." He looked over at her. "You probably shouldn't be bouncing on your head." With one last bounce, Nora flipped off the bed, landing with her feet together and her arms thrown wide. Ren gave her a small, obligatory clap. She bowed a little, letting out a soft giggle.

Before they could continue their discussion, the dorm's door burst open, and Pyrrha stormed in. She didn't say anything, just started pacing.

"Um…" Ren started to say.

"THIS IS BAD!" Pyrrha yelled, before wincing at how loud she was. "Sorry." With a flick of her wrist, she closed the door behind her.

"What's bad?" Nora asked innocently.

"He lied to us."

"On what?" Ren asked, his head tracking Pyrrha as she paced back and forth.

"Can't say."

"Is Jaune a girl?" gasped Nora.

"What? NO!" Pyrrha stopped, before pacing again. "It's just… argh!" She let out a frustrated sound, before she dropped into muttering to herself. The other two teammates shared a quick look, before Ren nodded. Nora, donning a solemn expression, walked over to her friend. She grabbed Pyrrha by the shoulder, and, much to the taller girl's surprise, slapped her twice across the face. Pyrrha's face winced and turned into a hurt expression.

"Sorry about that," Nora said, steering the red-head over to her bed. "Now, you're going to sit…" Nora pushed the amazon down onto her bed before sitting next to her. "Breath…" Pyrrha took a deep breath, visibly calming. "And _talk_ to us. We're your teammates. We're Jaune's teammates. You can trust us."

Pyrrha paused and collected her thoughts before speaking. "I talked to him on the roof. He…revealed a pretty… big secret. I'm…I'm not sure I should tell you guys."

"Pyrrha," Ren said softly, sitting across from her. The red-head looked up and met his magenta eyes. "We are not people who judge. You know that. We trust you, and we trust Jaune. You can tell us anything."

"Jaune…" Pyrrha began, her voice pained with indecision. "He… faked his transcripts." Utter silence enveloped the room. "I wanted to help him, and he told me. He wanted to be a hero, but never had the chance." Pyrrha's head drooped, tears forming at the corners of her eyes.

"Is that it?" Ren asked. She looked up and saw a look of… _confusion?_ on the boy's face. "From how you were acting I was expecting nothing less than homicidal maniac."

"Wha-?" Pyrrha was totally shocked.

"Nah," Nora replied, a grin spreading across her face. "He's too nice for that." Pyrrha was about to thank her for agreeing with her, but Nora continued. "He's more like a robber type. You know, the kind that smooth-talks his way to what he wants."

"A con-man?" Ren asked.

"Yeah!" an ecstatic Nora said.

"Hold-up," Pyrrha said, holding her hands up between the two. "You two are just… okay with it?" The two long-time friends looked at each other briefly before turning to her a nodding.

"We know Jaune," Ren said, as if that explained everything.

"Our fearless leader is a good person," explained Nora. "Yeah, he did something less than stellar, but it was in order to do a better thing, and no one else was harmed, so why not?" Pyrrha looked simply stunned.

"It would've been nice if he _told_ us," Ren said, sighing a little. "But that isn't the kind of information that you give out. He probably would have told us on his own time anyway."

Pyrrha looked back between the polar-opposite pair. Tears were now flowing freely down her cheeks, but they were of joy now, not of sadness. Drawing them both into a crushing hug, she whispered, "Thank you. Thank you so much."

A few moments of silence passed before Nora spoke up, "I like hugs and all, but I think Ren is turning blue." The champion immediately let him go, stammering apologies the whole time. Nora's laughter burst out, and soon enough, everyone was laughing. Once again their cheery selves, the three students decided that they would have a nice, lengthy conversation with Jaune when he came back.

... … … … … … …

Jaune didn't come back that night. In fact, for the next week, he was hardly seen by his own team. With every day that passed, Nora's grins grew less broad. Pyrrha spoke less. But most surprisingly, and perhaps worst, of all, Ren's scowls grew deeper and deeper. Now, as he had already established, Ren was not stupid. It was fairly obvious that Cardin had a leash on Jaune, much to the latter's displeasure. Neither Ozpin or Goodwitch had thus far intervened, and Ren could only think of two things. First, neither of the teachers gave a damn what happened to their students, which was highly unlikely, considering both their jobs and how long they had held them. The second option was that their hands were tied. Ren would've bet one of his weapons that both Ozpin and Goodwitch knew the entire time that Jaune's transcripts were fake. That being said, if they interfered, and CRDL went to them about the forgeries, they would have no option but to expel Jaune. Instead, the two administrators worked behind the scenes, such as arranging this trip to forever fall, far from beacon, with only Ms. Goodwitch to supervise. It was practically a gift-wrapped invitation for Ren to have some strong…words with CRDL.

All these thoughts were idly stirring in his head with a small, albeit growing, ember of _rage_ at the four who dared blackmail his leader and friend. The teacher was droning on about the forest, but Ren was tuning it out, instead trying to listen to what Dove and Sky were muttering about. As the group dispersed, Ren walked forward with Nora. Snagging her arm, her quietly said, "After we collect the sap, I'm going to slip away and have some words with our leader's new… friends. Can you cause a distraction?"

"Got it," She grinned back to him. Finding a suitable tree, the duo set to work. However, much to the lotus ninja's annoyance, Nora drank the entire first jar of syrup.

"Really?" deadpanned the boy.

"I need it for the distraction, trust me," the hammerer grinned back, syrup still covering her face. Ren shook his head, turning back to his work. As he finished the second, or rather first, jar of sap, a loud disturbance came from the brush on the other side of the clearing. In an instant, all seven students had their weapons drawn and trained on the potential threat. Much to their shock, Russel, Dove, and Sky burst forth, screaming like banshees.

"Ursa, Ursa!" Russel's unusually high-pitched voice cried.

"What! Where?" Yang asked, grabbing the boy by the shirt.

"Back there," the mohawked boy said, gesturing behind him. "It's got Cardin!"

Pyrrha gasped, "Jaune!" The Spartan dropped her jar – which miraculously didn't shatter – and drew her weapons. As Ruby instructed her team, Pyrrha bade Ren and Nora to escort them all back to Goodwitch. After running no more than a few hundred feet, they found her in a clearing.

"Miss Goodwitch!" an exhausted Yang yelled out. Upon hearing her name, the blonde professor spun to face the seven newly-arrived students. "There's an Ursa attacking Cardin and Jaune back that way!" As if to punctuate her sentence, a loud roar echoed through the forest. The teacher immediately started flying towards the sound – man, some people's semblances were just cheating. Telekinesis, really? – throwing instructions over her shoulder for the group to stay together and stay put. _As if._

Ren shot Nora a quick glance, to which she responded with a wink. As the ginger-haired girl started whatever her distraction was, Ren started walking towards Russel. The knife wielding boy was a little apart from the rest of the group, leaning against a tree while he caught his breath. With a surprising amount of strength, Ren's hand snapped out and closed around the boy's throat, dragging the lanky boy with him without so much as breaking stride.

When Ren had dragged the struggling kid a suitable distance away, far enough that even a Faunus would have difficulties making out what was said, Ren threw Russel against a tree. Faster than the eye could track, Ren threw his Stormflowers, each one imbedding itself in the tree, Russel's wrists caught between the blade and grip.

"Was your team blackmailing my leader?" Ren demanded in a soft voice.

"The hell man?" Russel asked, trying to break out of his restraints. Without warning, Ren lashed out in a punch, connecting with Russel's ribs. Russel let out a grunt, sagging a little.

"Were you blackmailing my friend?" **_Yes, feel the rage._** Ren's voice remained unnaturally flat, betraying his internal conflict.

"Maybe," Russel coughed out. "Don't know how, but Cardin got something on Jaune. He wouldn't tell us, but he told us that we could make Jaune do anything. He said we owned him."

Ren let out a long sigh, and closed his eyes. **_He hurt your friend. He deserves to be punished; to feel pain._** "You hurt my friend Russel, that was your mistake." His eyes snapped open, red as blood. "The bill is due."

… … … … … … …

Ren and Russel were back before Goodwitch and the first halves of JNPR and RWBY. Russel remained eerily quiet the entire airship ride back to beacon, not saying a word, his eyes unfocused. Once they had landed, the students trickled off in ones and twos. Jaune and Pyrrha ended up on the roof. RWBY made their way back to the dorm, after stopping for dinner in the mess hall. However, there were two students in particular who left by themselves. Beacon would soon be in for a shock.

Cardin was furious. Not only had his prank completely backfired, but that stupid Arc came out looking like a hero. Of course, the dumb knight in shining armor had demanded that Cardin not mess with any of his friends. Of course, Cardin wasn't dumb enough to do that; _he'd go after Jaune._

These were the bully's thoughts as he entered the elevator to Ozpin's office. He was so engrossed in his thoughts, he didn't notice the green-clad, red-eyed person already in the elevator until the doors were already closed. Ren's hand shot out and pinned Cardin to the door by his neck. "You're going to Ozpin's office to report Jaune?"

The taller boy grunted a struggled against the ninja's hand. Ren alleviated some of the pressure so the boy could speak. "I'm doing you all a favor. He's a fraud." Cardin continued shaming and insulting Jaune, but Ren was tuning him out at this point. **_He laughs at you. He taunts your friend. Bring back the pain. Let them know your pain._**

" **Fine,** " Ren muttered darkly…

Upstairs, both Ozpin and Glynda were thoroughly confused. There were no pressing reasons for any students to be coming to see them. Whatever it was, it certainly wouldn't be good.

With a slight _ding_ , the elevator doors opened to reveal… a horror scene. Cardin was a slumped mess on the floor, covered with injuries. Blood _painted_ the wall and pooled around the poor boy. Had he been conscious, he would have been screaming in agony. Glynda immediately rushed over to him. Ozpin activated a medical alert, summoning beacon's stand-by paramedics to his office, before walking over at a walk. Glynda had rolled Cardin to his side and was doing her best to help the mauled boy; her cape already sacrificed to try to stop the bleeding. Ozpin briefly wondered what could have done something like this to his student. Granted, Cardin wasn't the strongest opponent in his class, but he could hold his own against most low-tier Grimm, like what was common in the emerald forest. That meant that whatever had attacked the boy had been lethal to a high degree. _And,_ Ozpin realized with a growing sense of horror, _not only had to be small enough to fit in the elevator, but was now here._

Almost by instinct alone, Ozpin back-stepped. An instant later, a bone-white claw swished through where his head had been. The headmaster's arm snapped to the side, slinging steaming hot coffee into the face of the as of yet unseen attacker. A strangled _hisss_ echoed in the office, getting Goodwitch's attention. However, she was far too slow. The attacker blurred faster than most eyes could track and _launched_ itself out of the office window, shattering the reinforced glass as if it was tissue paper.

Without a moment's hesitation, Ozpin turned to his fellow administrator, addressing her in a curt tone, "See to the boy." He paced back to his desk and tapped out a few buttons before an alarm sounded. An antenna popped up from the desk, angling toward the headmaster. Glynda absently noted it was a microphone as she started pumping her aura into Cardin's bloody frame, trying to save her pupil. Ozpin cleared his throat before addressing the microphone. Throughout the entire campus, his voice echoed from hidden speakers, "Attention. The school is now under lock-down procedures. A high-level, unidentified Grimm is currently loose on the campus. All teams are to report to their respective dorms, report in, and secure their locations. All pilots are to immediately secure their craft, and to allow no one, under any circumstances, to board until lock-down is over. Combat-capable teachers, assemble in the courtyard and prepare for a systematic sweep of the school. Lethal force is authorized."

… … … … … … …

Jaune, Pyrrha and Nora were all in their dorm when the announcement echoed throughout the school. The knight and amazon had front row seats to watch Nora's face turn from her usual joyful expression to one of confusion to simple, abject terror. The usually indomitable girl's expression was more than enough to terrify her teammates.

"What's wrong?" Jaune asked the hammerer, already getting on his scroll, trying to contact the other male member of the team.

"It's happening again," was the only explanation she gave before bolting for the door. Immediately, the other two members of JNPR ran after her. An alert appeared on Jaune's scroll as he ran, letting him know that Nora had called both her and Ren's locker to the courtyard. Jaune summoned his and Pyrrha's as well, before telling her what had happened.

"Maybe we'll find Ren there," the Arc said, trying to remain positive in the frightening situation.

"Hopefully," agreed his partner. "The announcement said something about a high-level Grimm. We need to find both of them before they find it."

It took less than a minute for the duo to reach the courtyard, and what they found looked less like a school, and more like a warzone. Oobleck, Port, and Goodwitch were all there. Fire blossomed and stones flew, as the green-haired and blonde teachers supported their colleague. Port was swinging his axe like a madman, laughing the entire time. From that distance, Jaune and Pyrrha couldn't tell what he was swinging at, which meant that it was either incredibly small, or incredibly fast. With a _chunck_ , their lockers landed next to them, and both Jaune and Pyrrha retrieved their gear. They turned back in time to here Port yell, "Ah-ha!" As he managed to hit his opponent. The creature bounced and skidded before landing at the base of the statue. This time, Jaune and Pyrrha got a good look at the creature the teachers were fighting. The Grimm, if that was what it truly was, was the stuff of nightmares. It was vaguely hominoid, standing on two feet. Its limbs were unnaturally slim, hiding their strength. Its entire body was a deep shade of black, looking as if it absorbed all the light from around it. But it's worst aspect was the creatures "face". It was a single piece of white bone. Glowing red eyes peered from the top of it, and red lines painted the bottom into a sick, leering smile, as if it derived pleasure from the pain it both caused and endured.

"What the dust are you?" Glynda said, horror marring her usually calm tone.

"Soon," Port bellowed, flipping his weapon around. "Nothing more than a stain in the dirt!" His blunderbuss coughed fire, launching its payload at the creature. However, at the same time, another _whumpf_ sounded. Port's shot hit the second halfway to the monster in an explosion of red and… _pink?_

"You're not killing him!" a high-pitched, female voice yelled through the smoke. When the dust settled, it revealed Nora, armed with Magnhild in its grenade launcher form.

"Miss Valkyrie!" demanded Goodwitch, her voice shrilling in a mixture of fear, shock, and outrage. "What in the name of Oum do you think you're doing?!" The creature got to its feet behind Nora and, taking stock of the situation, blurred in the direction of the emerald forest. A beat later, the hammerer followed.

Oobleck moved to give chase, but was stopped by his brother in arms. "If the thing makes it to the emerald forest, it will be impossible to track," Port stated, reassuring his friend. "Let us check on the students and faculty tonight, and track it in the morning. The two teachers left, leaving Jaune and Pyrrha alone with an irate Miss Goodwitch.

"ARC!" the teacher roared, sending Jaune into a cold-sweat. "What was your teammate doing? In fact, why aren't the four of you in your dorms?"

"Well…" Jaune said, scratching the back of his head sheepishly. "When the lock-down was sounded, Nora bolted out to go find Ren, and the two of us followed, thinking we should stick together in case the beast showed up."

"And did you find Mr. Ren?" the older blonde practically whispered, her voice cold as ice **(A/N: or Weiss)**. "And that does not explain your teammate's actions."

"We didn't find him, and we don't know what happened to Nora," Pyrrha explained, coming to her partner's rescue.

"Fine," huffed Glynda. "Head to your dorm. If your teammates are found, you will be notified." Both students noted how the teacher hadn't said _when_ , as Goodwitch walked away. They stood frozen for a minute, observing the horrors around them.

Eventually, Jaune turned to face his partner, placing a heavy hand on her shoulder, "You know I can't just leave them out there."

Pyrrha flashed a brief, small smile back, "Then what are we waiting for." Jaune returned the smile, this time bright and hopeful. The pair started off toward the launch pads.

Unbeknownst to them, far above, Ozpin watch, his mug refilled with coffee. He gave a small sip before thinking to himself, _The champion of Mistral and the scion of house Arc. Each capable, to differing degrees. Too bad; I'll notify their families. After all, no one has survived the huī beast._

 **Post Scene:**

The RWBY dorm was deathly quiet. Ruby was currently sitting with her sister in the blonde's bunk, with Blake reading in her bunk and an irate Weiss pacing back and forth. What else is new?

"I hope JNPR is okay," Ruby said meekly, breaking the silence.

"We all do," Yang said, giving her sister a one-armed hug.

"This is the _worst_ timing!" exploded Weiss, gathering her teammates eyes. "We were supposed to go into Vale tomorrow to welcome the visiting students, but now we might be stuck here!"

"It's kind of funny," Yang drawled, giving her sister a grin. "She just won't admit she wants to go spy on them." This elicited a small giggle from the younger girl.

Before Weiss could retort, Blake cut in, "I'm sure she's far too smart and sophisticated for such things."

"That was kind've hurtful Blake-y," Yang said, getting an annoyed thank-you from the ice queen. "Was that a… _Weiss_ thing to do?" Weiss's frustrated scream echoed through beacon.

 **Yeah, this was a long one to write. Did you guys like the longer chapter? Because if so, I can start writing long pieces. Anyways, I hope everyone is doing well after the end of Volume four. I don't know about you guys, but I really wanted RWBY back together this volume, but still good ending. Now, how will all we saw affect this story? Well... the glimpse into Ren and Nora's origins will still hold in this story, but from this chapter on, things we be diverging from canon. Therefore, there might be some OOC due to my changes, but that is unavoidable. I will do my best to keep characters like they are in the show, but as this is my story, I will write it my way.**

 **Anyways, favorite if you like the story. Follow if you want to read some more.** ** _Please_** **leave a review with your thoughts, it really does help the story go. Feel free to PM me directly if you have questions, or just want to talk (I don't bite...much ;) ). Until next time.**

 **Peace out!**


	7. Chapter 7

**_Hey readers, I'm back. I'm sorry that I had to go away for so long and without any updates or just me posting something. I had a lot of personal issues to deal with, but I would rather not go into those. Just know that I'm back, and I'm going to be writing again._**

 ** _Now, I've got some news for you guys. I don't know how many of you have read any of my other works, but I have a story called "Do you believe in Destiny?". It's going to be coming down sometime in the next week. It's main idea was that I wanted to expand upon the lore of the RWBY-verse. It was going to tackle the Mountain Glenn incident, how Salem's cronies were recruited and more of Ozpin's story. Sound ambitious, right? Well, it was too ambitious for me, and without anyone's help, I don't think I can complete it. Besides, OC stories are rather unpopular anyway._**

 ** _That being said, I am going to put something else up in it's place. No idea what it will be about, and that's because I want to leave it up to you guys. You can leave my an idea as a review, send it to me in a message, or I'm going to look at doing a poll. I want to hear want you guys want to see more of. What kinds of stories? About who? What pairings? Original or just not overused ideas would be nice, but it's up to you._**

 ** _Finally, this story. I'm going to apologize in advance for this chapter. I know you guys liked the longer chapters, but this one is at about the original length because I just wanted to get something out to you guys. Future chapters will be longer, I just needed to get back in the swing of things. Anyway, here you go..._**

 ** _... ... ... ... ... ... ..._**

The strange creature's paws pounded toward the Cliffside, heavy pants accenting the rhythm. The pink one was still following it, it couldn't remember why. The pink one was always following it. As the edge of the cliff approached, the creature felt itself changing. Skin stretched and attached itself. At the edge, the monster flung itself off, spreading its limbs wide.

Flaps of skin between the creature's arms and legs filled with air, making it glide off into the forest. By the time it landed, it could feel itself changing again. Three paces later, and the flaps had dissolved into black smoke. A brief glance over its shoulder confirmed that the pink one was at the top of the cliff. The pink one yelled something, but whatever it was, it was lost in the wind and distance.

… … … … … … …

Pyrrha made it to the cliffs a solid ten seconds before Jaune, and took the opportunity to check her scroll. Thankfully, Nora still had hers with her and it was working.

With a huff, Jaune rested his hands on his legs. "Definitely…need to do…more cardio…in armor." Pyrrha couldn't help but smile a little at the blonde's statement. "Nora definitely beat us here." Jaune nodded his head at a single, triggered platform near the path up.

"She can't be too far ahead though," Pyrrha replied hopefully. There was no way to know, which made the spartan anxious, but there was nothing else she could do.

"Do you know how to trigger these?" Jaune asked, standing on the next platform.

"I think I have an idea," the champion smiled, standing next to Jaune. "Get your shield out and hold it in front of you." The knight did so and looked back to his partner. "Ready?" Before Jaune replied, Pyrrha used her semblance to trigger the platforms, sending the duo flying into the woods, one of them screaming like a little girl.

Pyrrha on the other hand, was in complete control. She angled herself towards her partner, latching on to him mid-air. As the duo neared the ground, the champion used her semblance to slow them down enough so that when they tumbled onto the ground, it was at a reasonable speed. As soon as she hit dirt, she rolled to her feet, graceful as swan. As soon as Jaune hit dirt, he tumbled into a tree, graceful as a water buffalo. The spartan couldn't help but giggle at the scene.

"Sure, laugh it up," Jaune groaned, flopping onto his back. "Thanks though, that was a bit better than your last landing strategy, throwing deadly objects at a person without aura."

"I'm sorry," said Pyrrha, almost reflexively, before noticing his smile.

Hauling himself to his feet, Jaune grunted out, "Let's get going. We don't want them to get too far ahead."

… … … … … … …

It had hoped the pink one would stay away after the cliffs. It was wrong. Not only did the pink one follow, but it was almost on him. It felt a weight suddenly land on its shoulders. It had taken to loping on all fours in an attempt to outrun his pursuer.

Two things pressed into its sides, closing like the steel jaws of a trap. "Gotcha," a high-pitched voice said from above it. It growled. The pink one had finally caught it. The creature jerked to a halt, tumbling to a stop with the pink one attached to it. Reflexively, the creature curled itself so it wouldn't hurt its unwelcome passenger. _Why would it do that?_

… … … … … … …

Jaune may not have been trained as a hunter formally, but he had tried to do what he could on his own; that much was apparent to Pyrrha. She was slightly surprised that he had been able to keep up with her, running through the dense undergrowth of the Emerald forest. She was only going a little below her top speed for long distances, or that was what she told herself anyway. And there was Jaune, puffing along beside her in his full gear.

"I would… never… had… thought… she was… this fast!" wheezed Jaune, crashing through the brush.

"The wonders of aura," Pyrrha replied, leaping over a fallen tree.

"Wait, it can help you run?" Jaune gasped. "And you didn't tell me that?"

"You weren't using it?" the spartan gasped, stumbling a little. Before either could continue the conversation, the duo burst forth into a clearing. There, in the middle of the grass, lay Nora. She was either unconscious or worse. Looming above her body, still sporting its maniacal grin, was the Grimm from the school.

… … … … … … …

 _Five minutes earlier…_

The creature rose slowly to its feet, shifting back into a bipedal stance. The pink one lay at its feet, breathing lightly. Some red stuff matted the hair on one side of its head. _Blood_ the small voice in the back of its head named it. The creature didn't like that the pink one had that stuff on its head. The blood drew the attraction of the others.

As if summoned by the creatures thought, three beowolves emerged from the brush. Low growls rumbled from the throats of the trio. They were challenging the creature, trying to claim its prey. The creature didn't like that. The pink one wasn't prey, and it certainly didn't belong to the Grimm wolves. The creature moved in between the trio. Bone plating began growing across the creature's chest, back and belly, even as six in talons of the same material sprouted from the creature's hands. The beowolves split up, two flanking it to each side as the third stalked slowly forward.

The creatures didn't give the wolves a chance to think. It charged forward to meet the one in front. It ducked underneath an outstretched paw and raked its claws along the wolf's belly. Continuing the motion, the creatures spun and slashed out, cutting the back of both the Grimm's hind legs. The creature howled its dismay, falling forward due to the loss of its feet. Matters worsened for the wolf as the creature pounced upon its back and, in a feat of strength, ripped off both the Grimm's forelegs. The Beowulf howled and thrashed, smoke already seeping from the creature as it writhed in its death throws.

A common misconception about Grimm is that they don't have feelings. Beolwolves were, in fact, pack predators. The creature was reminded of this when the jaws of the one to its left settled around its shoulder. The creature rolled over, flipping the attached Grimm into its remaining companion. The creature pounced and, as the talons on it's right hand melded together into one, wicked sharp blade, the creature drove it down in and through both creatures' heads.

With a huff, the creature pulled its hand out of the dissolving Grimm, pieces of the bone covering falling off, and stepped back. It howled its victory, letting every creature in the forest know who the victor. It probably shouldn't have done that, considering the bronze shield that slammed into its side a moment later.

… … … … … … …

Pyrrha had gotten ahead of Jaune and, upon seeing the creature roar while Nora laid slumped in the grass, assumed the worst. With an anguished cry she hurled her shield at the monster, knocking it back and away from her teammate. Jaune stumbled into the clearing a moment later and hurried over to Nora's side.

"She's still alive, just unconscious," he quickly said. The young knight hoisted the smaller girl in a fireman's lift and started carrying her out. Pyrrha nodded before summoning Akoúo̱ back and falling into a defensive stance; shield over her torso and javelin pointed at the enemy. The monster rose slowly onto two legs and leveled a hateful glare at the spartan. Pyrrha didn't even so much as flinch. She knew that if she failed, her friends would be hurt. The monster charged. On pure reflex, she hunkered down behind her shield, angling it to deflect the first swipe. What she wasn't expecting was for the monster to leap entirely over her and run into the woods. She turned and slung Akoúo̱ at the creature's back, and was amazed as the monster turned and deflected it of a section of bone armor on its forearm – which she could have sworn wasn't there before – before continuing its pursuit.

Pyrrha began sprinting after it, once again using her polarity to retrieve her weapon.

… … … … … … …

"Ughh," Nora groaned as she came to. "Did you get the number of that bullhead?" She could feel herself bouncing up and down but her eyes told her she was sideways, which made no sense.

"Nora! Thank the brothers!" She heard Jaune gasp. The bouncing stopped and she felt herself being lowered down. "Are you ok? How's your head."

"Pancakes," the Valkyrie slurred. "Where is he?"

"The Grimm? Pyrrha's facing it, she won't take long. Now let's get you back, Ren must be-"

"NO!" Nora shoved Jaune away, causing the knight to crash through a tree. She staggered of in the direction they had come from. "I've got to… find him."

"Nora, what are you doing?" Jaune sighed, pulling himself out of the wreckage of what you used to be the tree. "We need to get back to beacon!"

"Not. Without. HIM!" Nora said. The huntress in training before falling to the ground. Or rather, she would have fallen, if a shadow hadn't emerged from the forest to catch her. The monster was covered in what looked like dozens of small cuts -probably gained from escaping Pyrrha- as well as a semicircle of punctures on its shoulders. Jaune reacted instantly charging the pair, before Nora shot a hand out, beckoning for him to stay back. Her other grabbed the creature arm in a vice like grip. Less than a second later, Pyrrha arrived, slightly winded, her aura crackling around her slightly.

"Nora, back away… slowly," The spartan said, leveling her rifle at the beast.

"Leave him alone!" She screeched. "It's not his fault!"

"His?" Jaune asked, confused by the pronoun. "What do you mean?"

"Don't shoot him and I'll show you," begged Nora, her emotion bleeding into her voice. A second passed and nobody in the clearing moved. With a loud sigh, Jaune sheathed his sword and shot his partner a pointed look.

"You can't be-"

"She's our teammate Pyr," The blonde sighed. "And contrary to past performance, I'd trust her with anything. Put it away." Slowly, Pyrrha lowered her gun, but stubbornly met Jaune's look and refused to put her weapon away. Their contest of wills was sharply broken by a sound neither of them expected. Singing.

 _The other night dear, when I lay sleeping, I dreamt I held you in my arms…_

The duo looked over at Nora, who, even while holding the struggling monster still, was singing in a soft, sad tone.

 _When I awoke dear, I was mistaken, so I hung my head and cried._

The monster's struggles slowly died away, leaving it just swaying slightly. It let out a mournful howl, as if trying to join in Nora's song.

 _You are my sunshine, my only sunshine…_

Black mist seemed to roll off the creature's form, and it began to shrink in the girl's arms.

 _You make me happy, when skies are grey…_

The fur slowly receded along the creature's body, and the bone plating began chipping off and falling to the ground, as if an invisible stone mason was attacking the creature with a chisel.

 _You'll never know dear, how much I love you…_

A single streak of pink hair sprouted from the creature's head as the harsh, glowing red eyes softened to

 _Please don't take my sunshine away._

When the smoke cleared, it revealed Nora kneeling on the ground, cradling Ren; limp, but alive.


End file.
